FETTING, MARGARET ANN; PHD

                        UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1987

                        URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING (0999); SOCIOLOGY, INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY STUDIES (0628)
 

                         This case study analyzed the conflict in the Child Advocacy System in Philadelphia over a three year
                         period. The study was particularly interested in the conflict that existed among the three child advocacy
                         units in the city and the Family Court judges assigned to adjudicate child abuse and neglect cases. The
                         researcher, after nine months of extensive interviewing and site observations, identified four incidents of
                         conflict involving all the key actors. The system was riddled with conflict and mistrust by the time of the
                         fourth incident. It was a system in dysfunction. The researcher was intrigued by the repetitious nature of
                         this conflict and was challenged to devise a theoretical framework that would shed a rich understanding
                         of the root and recursive quality of the contention. The analytical framework used drew from three
                         theoretical orientations--Dialectical Theory, Family Systems Theory and Social Systems Theory.
                         Principles and concepts from each were used to explain each incident of conflict as well as proposing
                         root causes and a possible solution. The framework of analysis was chosen after the researcher
                         discovered that the theories in the interorganizational relations literature were not conductive for
                         developing an understanding of the complex nature of this conflict. It was hypothesized that the conflict
                         was not, as perceived, a surface feud among ideological head strong executives and judges, but rather
                         this symptom masked an underlying fear of systems transformation. Legislation mandated that the
                         practice of advocacy move from an informal to a formal system. Obviously, this meant new professional
                         behaviors as well as new actors. Using the devised analytical framework, the researcher was able to
                         articulate this fear and identify how it shaped and re-shaped each incident of conflict. The principles from
                         dialectical theory produced an historical rendering of incidents that was sensitive to history, process and
                         contradictions in events. Anxiety in systems often provokes triangular behavior among members, as was
                         seen by using concepts from Family Systems Theory. Social Systems Theory articulates an
                         understanding of insidious conflict that produces stalemate in a system. This study produced not only a
                         rich understanding of the nature of conflict in a system, but demonstrated the usefulness of applying the
                         above theories to data in the interorganizational field.

Social Systems Simulation Group P.O. Box 6904 San Diego, CA  92166-0904 Roland Werner, Principal Phone/FAX  (619) 660-1603